Warnings

🇩🇪 Deutsche Version

JourneyPulse warns you on the way about hazards on your route: traffic jams, roadworks, closures, accident hotspots and more. Warnings appear in the Live tab, in CarPlay and, if you like, as a tone, voice announcement or notification.

Turning warnings on

Warnings are off by default. You activate them under Settings → Warnings with the switch "Show warnings (banner/Dynamic Island)".

Then you set:

Setting	Meaning
Show banner in foreground	Shows a banner at the top.
Read banner aloud	Also reads the notice aloud.
Warnings as system notification	Shows the warning as an iOS notification. If notifications are not allowed, the app automatically uses the banner.
Alert tone	Choice of tone; "Test tone only" plays it without a banner.
Close banner automatically after	0.5 to 12 seconds.
Radius	Distance from which you are warned (100 to 1000 m, default 400 m).
Cooldown	Minimum interval between repeated warnings for the same spot (30 to 600 s, default 180 s).

With "Test warning flow" you see and hear the complete flow once with a test warning.

What you are warned about

Each category can be switched on and off individually (Settings → Warnings → Hazard data):

• Traffic jam / slow traffic
• Roadworks
• Closures
• Accident hotspots (places where crashes happen particularly often)
• Traffic calming (e.g. speed bumps)
• Speed cameras (see below)

During navigation the app evaluates hazards along your route, so points beside or behind you are less of a nuisance. If several hazards are close together, only the most important one is announced (by type, source, freshness and proximity). If a report covers a longer stretch, such as a traffic jam or roadworks, it is drawn as a line on the map and evaluated by its nearest point. Roadworks that only start later or have already ended are not announced.

Roadworks are notices, not an acute danger: each roadworks site is announced once, doesn't interrupt a turn announcement and reappears as a banner after 10 minutes at the earliest. During navigation only the navigation voice speaks; with "Limit announcements to the essentials" hazards along the route stay silent and only appear as a banner. The banner states the actual distance to the report, rounded to 50 m.

If a traffic jam, closure or roadworks lies on your route, the app shows a notice and checks for a faster detour (see Navigation).

Where the data comes from

Under Hazard data → Sources you switch the data sources individually:

Source	Content	Note
OpenStreetMap	Hazards such as traffic calming, roadworks, accident hotspots	On by default.
Autobahn GmbH	Roadworks, closures and traffic reports on German federal motorways	Open data, no key or sign-up. Off by default; each service can be switched separately. Federal motorways only.
Unfallatlas	Accident hotspots from official accident data	Off by default; the data address is pre-set.
HERE Traffic	Live traffic	Off by default; needs your own free key from HERE.
Mobilithek (DATEX II)	Official traffic events	Off by default; expects feed addresses that you have to enter yourself. More for advanced users.

The data is cached locally. Under "Deduplication & cache" you set how long (e.g. Mobilithek 6–72 hours, Unfallatlas 7–60 days) and from what distance duplicate reports are merged (50 to 300 m). Traffic reports from Autobahn GmbH are only valid briefly (minutes), roadworks for several hours.

The sources are queried simultaneously. If OpenStreetMap responds slowly, the other reports appear after 6 seconds at the latest; the rest follows.

Banner and voice announcement

• A banner at the top shows the type and distance of the hazard.
• The alert tone is selectable; the voice announcement is optional ("Read banner aloud").
• With an active Dynamic Island the warning appears there.
• A hazard list shows spots in the area, colour-coded: red = high, orange = medium, yellow = low.

Warnings only in the vehicle

Route warnings only make sense in the car. That's why banners, notifications and notices about nearby places stay silent when you're probably not sitting in a vehicle. You count as "in the vehicle" if at least one of these applies:

• navigation is running,
• CarPlay is connected,
• your vehicle was detected via beacon,
• you are moving at 20 km/h or more.

That way you don't get car warnings at your desk or on foot.

Reporting a hazard yourself

In the Places tab, in the Hazards section, you report a spot at your current location with "Report hazard" (menu at the top right), and likewise with the orange warning button at the bottom left of the live map:

• Speed camera
• Traffic jam
• Traffic calming
• Roadworks
• Closure
• Accident hotspot
• Other hazard

The app needs your location for this. A banner confirms the report. It also works via Siri/Shortcuts ("Report hazard") and in CarPlay (dashboard button, if enabled).

Your own reports are stored on the device and later trigger warnings just like reports from other sources; at the same spot your own report takes precedence. Under Settings › Warnings › My reports you see all reports, can switch individual ones off, change type and note, or delete them. A reported traffic jam expires after two hours; everything else stays until you delete it. Right after reporting, your own report stays silent for five minutes. Your own speed cameras only warn when speed camera warnings are switched on. Reports are included in the iCloud backup and the JSON export.

Speed cameras (optional)

Speed camera warnings have their own main switch. When you switch it on, a notice appears: only use them where it is legally permitted. JourneyPulse provides hints; you are responsible for how you use them.

Other warnings

• Sharp bends outside towns, speed-dependent (see Navigation).
• Speeding (the sign turns red, short tone).
• Weather warnings from the German Weather Service along the route: once as a banner with event, distance, warning level and validity that hides itself after a few seconds, and once as an announcement.

No warnings?

Check in order:

1. Main switch "Show warnings" on?
2. Categories and data sources under Hazard data active?
3. Radius not too small? Cooldown not too long?
4. Notifications for the app allowed in iOS?
5. Are you "in the vehicle" (see above)?

More in the FAQ. Notes on battery and background operation: Energy and Battery. All switches at a glance: Settings.